I bet you didn’t know that you need regular roof cleaning.
It’s not something many of us think about very often, but almost every type of roof available today can benefit from regular, professional pressure washing or softwashing. I say almost… if you have a thatched roof, pressure washing or softwashing is probably the last thing you need! For the other 99.999% of us, though, it has some very substantial benefits.
Avoid Costly Roof Repairs
Some of the benefits of getting your roof professionally cleaned are fairly obvious. It clears away the algae and moss which cause discolouration of your roof tiles. Exposing hidden damage, allowing you to get it repaired before it spreads. It removes the corrosive residue of pollution, and clears all of the mud, silt and leaves form your gutters.
However, regular softwashing or pressure washing of your roof can also have some less obvious advantage which are even more important:
- Roof cleaning can extend the useful lifespan of your roof. Just like how cleaning and maintaining the interior of your home preserves its value, cleaning your roof keeps your shingles, tiles or other roofing material in tip top condition.
- Regular roof cleaning can remove seeds, twigs and leaves which work themselves under your shingles and tiles. These debris allow the wind to curl up under the tiles, and make it more likely that you’ll lose a few in the worst storms.
- Roof cleaning can also remove mould, algae and moss that grows in the cracks between shingles or under them. These contaminants are even harder on your roof, and can damage the materials underneath.
- A lot of harmful substances settle on your roof every day. Air pollution, car exhaust, soot and acid rain all attack the surface of your tiles or shingles, reducing their useful life span and causing tiny pieces of them to clog up your gutters. That, in turn, can cause water damage to your home’s exterior.
- Algae poses a particular danger to asphalt and limestone shingles. The algae’s natural activity eats away at the tiles, making them thin and brittle. Even before these thin, damaged tiles break away they are failing to insulate your home properly.
Prevention is better than a Cure
Not taking care of these issues can leave even a relatively new roof looking rumpled and uneven, but the real danger isn’t that your roof looks ugly. The real danger is that these dishevelled toles are in substantially more danger of being blown off in the wild, sluiced off in heavy rain or simply failing. Any of these events opens a hole in your roof’s armour – its first line of defence against water pouring into your home when it rains and ruining your walls and ceilings. Take a look at our Facebook or Instagram for our previous work.
On a more subtle level, the mildew growing on an unwashed roof can aggravate allergies for the people and pets living in the home, and has a rather unpleasant odour. The next time you come home form a holiday and wonder if your home always smells like that, remember that the culprit might be your roof.
Luckily, All Trade Pressure Washing provides regular, professional washing services as well as one-off roof washing services, as needed.